I have a lot of fond memories with Harry Potter franchise. I read the books when I was a kid back then.Everything about Harry Potter is magical and wondrous. Unfortunately I can only afford to buy the first 4 books of it at the time. So the rest of the series, I decided to watch the movie instead. But honestly speaking, I'm really interested to buy the rest of the books right now, hahaha!
So back then I read "Fantastic Beasts and where to find them" and it was a book which contains a lot of information about the magical creatures on the Harry Potter's universe. It was more like a "encyclopedia" rather than a novel book. So when I heard that there's going to be a movie about it. I was expecting a "documentary" kind of movie about the magical creatures on this Harry Potter's world. But it wasn't. This movie actually have a story in it. This movie is directed by David Yates (who was also directing the Harry Potter movies since The Order of the Phoenix) and written by JK Rowling herself. Without further ado. Let's just dive into the review, shall we?
Story
The story takes place 70 years before Harry Potter enters the Hogwarts. Our main character, Newt Scamander (he is the one who wrote the "Fantastic Beasts and where to find them" book) is going to New York and he brought his suitcase that is filled with a lot of magical creatures. Some of them manages to escape by accident. He goes around collecting this feared magical creatures which most of the people wants to exterminate immediately, because he believe that he can take care of them , nurture them and study them. So most of the wizard can learn about the creatures on that era that those creatures are actually harmless at all. So it's up to him to "capture" back those magical creatures without any non-magic people knowing about it. So basically Newt is just like a Pokemon Professor, and his book is basically a PokeDex, (I'm sorry I brought in Pokemon since this movie came out at the same week as Pokemon Sun and Moon and I tried to buy one copy of it but it sold out TvT b) Anyway, will he be able to retrieve all of his magical creatures back?
My thoughts on the movie
If you are a hardcore Harry Potter fan, this is going to be your first time watching a movie without knowing actually what will going to happen since the book is actually a catalog about mystical creatures on Harry Potter Universe. This is JK Rowling's original screenplay and she really is an imaginative writer. Everything on this movie feels magical (pun intended). And watching this movie will make you smile because of its magic.
This also will be the first time for us to see the how adult's life in Harry Potter's universe. I mean, in the original source, mostly we see Harry in the school. And now we can experience it in this movie.
This movie is actually quite accessible by someone who didn't really know about Harry Potter at all. Since this movie is kind of a prequel to Harry Potter but you can't really say that since there's no Harry Potter relatives in this movie. Except for the well-known wizard character and one of the key character to the finale of Harry Potter (which I won't spoil it for you).
I really, really, really liked those magical creatures in this movie. They are so adorable and cute! When I watch this movie, my inner-child was like "AAAAAAA! I WANT NIFFLER TO BE MY PET!" yeah seriously. Niffler is the cutest and smartest creature in this movie. That creature is really mischievous though. But still. adorable as hell! And other creatures are really unique and have their own special traits and characters. They are indeed fun to watch
David Yates is the one who directed this movie, I think it's really understandable why he is chosen to direct this movie since he really understand how the world of Harry Potter Universe works. And he manages to make a great "prequel" without relying too much on fanservice or our knowledge on the franchise in general to appreciate this movie. Because there are a lot of prequels or spin off, or even sequels that really rely so much on those two things which pander the fandom a lot. Because they just want to milk the franchise and fandom. *cough* Digimon Adventures Tri *cough*.
The characters are actually really interesting in this movie. Newt Scamander is a socially awkward but he is really good handling magical creatures rather than people. He is a likeable character and he is the type of character that hid his past pain really well.
Continuing from the last point, Jacob Kowalski the No-Maj (Muggles in America are called No-Maj, it means a non-magic person), is really a magical character (pun intended). I was afraid that he is going to be an annoying comic relief side character on this movie. But thankfully he wasn't. He got caught up in this situation but he is not being annoying or intervening everything that is happening in the movie. This guy is just a pure comedic act without being a nuisance to the plot. Heck, he DOES matter in the plot! I just love it that he is as oblivious as us the audience. When some kind of magical term just showed up and he was like "Erm, what was that mean?" and then Newt explain it to him.
The minor problem that I had it's just some minor plot hole in this movie which is hard to say for a non-spoiler review in here. But don't worry about it. It's just a minor thing anyway XD
But one of the problem that might turn some people off on this movie is that this movie is quite exposition heavy.
So, here comes the final verdict, Should you watch Fantastic Beasts and where to find them!? Yes! I think people will have a lot of fun with this movie. It has great visuals, interesting story, adorable magical creatures, entertaining characters and so on! For you hardcore Harry Potter fans, this movie is a MUST watch list for you! I heard that they want to make 5 of this movie. Well I'm honestly happy to hear that! Can't wait to watch the sequel! XD
Okay guys, that's it from me. I hope that you will find this review useful. This is Reikichi, signing out! XD
What would happen if I didn't meet this person? I think my life would be better What would happen if I didn't do this? My life would be much easier What would happen if I.... What would happen....
At some point in your life, these "what if" questions will pop up in your mind someday. Usually these questions popped up when you regret doing something in your life and you want to "undo" it in order to make it better. But reality is different than that.We don't have "undo button" in our life. (thankfully we have that on this blog's editor's viewer lol). Everything happens for a reason. We can't undo everything that we have done because time waits for no one and it always moves forward. But not in this anime tho. Today I'm going to talk about one of the best anime series that I've watched. The Tatami Galaxy (Japanese title: Yojouhan Shinwa Takei). This show is 11 episode long with normal length episode (24 mins). So how was it? Let's just jump into the review!
Story
The story is actually simple, the nameless protagonist (let's refer him as "Watashi" since that how he refer himself) is starting a college life. He wishes to have a "rose colored" college life. So he chose a certain circle (or club). He joined that circle for 2 years, he regrets it, and he thought to himself "If only I didn't choose this circle, I wish I can redo this!" and then in the next episode, he joined a different circle. and then he regrets that decision again. and everything looped just like that.
Yeah, that's the "dumbed down" plot of the series. In order to get the whole big picture. you have to watch it or I must say, you must experience it yourself!
My thoughts on the series
I should tell you guys from the start. If you can't handle a non-linear story telling with a lot of unique metaphorical things and symbolism in it which makes you think a lot. Welp, I'm sorry to say that this series is not for you. It's best that you stay away from this anime. But if you can handle this non-linearity and can enjoy some surreal things, oh boy, you are in for a great time! If we look at the story's premise, it doesn't look really interesting for some people. But here are the reasons why you should watch this series :
This anime seems episodic at first, but in the end, everything makes sense and it has a very satisfying ending which is quite rare to see in a slice of life or comedy series. And in the end, the title will make sense. You will understand why this is called "The Tatami Galaxy" at the end of the series
Unlike Re:Zero (which is already talked in this blog here), this series did the time reset perfectly! Every episode, Watashi choose a circle and he spends his life there. In the next episode, he choose a different circle. He still meet the same characters from the previous episode, but they met in a slightly altered situation and condition. At some of the episode, we learn more about side character's background story, This makes every episode feels different and unique even though it is the same base story all over again. It's not like the "legendary endless eight" from Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu season 2 (which is the 8 episodes that is made by Satan himself) where the main characters stuck on a loop and everything feels the same (only the outfits and the angles are different) and the loop breaks because Kyon figured it out that Haruhi just want to make that goddamn summer homework TOGETHER WITH SOS BRIGADE! GODDAMMIT HARUHI! WHY YOU SO SELF-CENTERED! THERE! I JUST SAVED YOU 4 HOURS! YOU ARE WELCOME!
The narration is delivered in a very fast pace, I'm not kidding, it's really fast! It's like all of the exposition is explained by the Rap God himself. I doubt there will be a dubbed version for this (fyi, I'm sub > dub, since most of the dubs sucks). The exposition is really necessary to understand the whole thing that happen in there. Personally I was quite shocked when I watch this series, but as it goes on, I get used to the this speed narrating haha
The art style is very unique compared to your usual modern anime. You will see that the director really use "anime" as a medium to convey messages through the art and background images. The animation is done by studio Madhouse, the one who is responsible for One Punch Man. The animation feels great. consistent and surreal at times.
The best thing of this anime is the metaphorical delivery, It has a lot of great messages like for example : "Time moves so fast in your life, especially in your college life, try to keep up!" "Your boner will get you in trouble, try to learn to contain your libido all together!" "Sometimes you just have to accept the reality" "Do not overthink of things too much" "History repeats itself" and you will watch this series repeat itself over and over again. and many more! This series will give you a lot of great messages without being too preachy.
The comedy is also delivered metaphorically. And personally I found it really funny (disclaimer, sense of humor are subjective). My favorite part is when Watashi is having a conversation with his boner. I'm not kidding, that was really surreal and epic! XD
All of the supporting characters are explained throughout the series. So you won't miss out because every character got their fair share of screen time and background stories. (fyi: Akashi is the best girl, she reminded me a lot of my girlfriend XD)
Akashi
Watashi's character development is one of the charm of this series as well. It's really hard to explain it in detail since this is a non-spoiler review. But his character arc is relatable and awesome. To put it simply, he is Peter-Parker-without-Spider-Man-powers-level of relatable character.
The soundtrack fits the tone of the anime, the opening and ending are good as well! The animation of the opening though, It combined the real life video with anime characters and really suits the theme of this anime.The ending animation shows the unique art style of this anime too.
So here comes the final verdict. Should you watch The Tatami Galaxy? Yes! This anime series is really unique and has great messages. Entertaining and fun to watch. A thought provoking anime. It's a coming of age story. It has quirky characters mixed up with Japanese myths. A simple story that is delivered in a very unique, brilliantly imaginative and will left you impressed. And at the end of the journey, you will be glad that you watched it until the end. This is what an anime should be like! I consider this anime to be a modern masterpiece that you shouldn't be missing out!
That's it from me guys, I hope that you will find this review useful, This is Reikichi! Signing out!
"Don't judge the book by its cover!"
is what people usually say when they want to tell someone that you have to look closely and get into it without being judgmental about it. Why did I say that in the first place? Because that's how I feel when I watch this series. At first glance it looks like a "OH MYYYY GODD THIS IS SOME MOE BULLSHIT RIGHT HERE!" kind of show. But apparently, it's not 100% moe bullshit that I watched here. So today I'm going to talk about this anime which is quite self-explanatory on the title, Girls Und Panzer! It's a 12 eps anime series with normal length episode. How was it? Let's just jump into the review!
Story
The story itself is actually pretty simple, there's a girl named Nishizumi Miho (she looks like Yukiho from Idolm@ster 's long lost twin sister) who is just transferred to Ooarai Girls High School, and she is confused to choose which club that she should join in that school. (So far, it's sounds like a generic slice of life with moe girls, right?). She has two friends, Takebe Saori and Isuzu Hana, who already decided to join the Sensha-dou (direct translation : Tank arts, it's like a martial arts, but with tanks) club. But Miho feels conflicted whether to join the club or not since she has some "past experience" with this kind of club in her previous school. Kadotani Anzu, the student president of Oorai, learns about Miho's past experience and her family name. Apparently, Nishizumi-style is a well known sensha-dou-style. Knowing this info, Anzu urges Miho to join the Sensha-dou club and they aim to compete for the international tournament against other school ships. Yes, you didn't read that wrong. The entire schools exists on a top of a MASSIVE retrofitted aircraft carrier. It's so massive, the entire town is on the top of its deck! And for people on this anime, it's just a normal thing, while personally I found it very interesting. What actually happened to that world so they have to move the entire population on a top of that ship? But unfortunately, that question is never answered in this anime. Because that's not the main focus on the story. The main story of this series is the tank tournaments! Finally Miho agrees to join the Sensha-dou club. Will they be able to win the tournament? My thoughts on the series
Like I wrote at the beginning, this show is not 100% moe. It's still a moe slice of life anime but with a twist. To put it simply, it's cute girls on a tank doing some strategic military things to win the tank tournament!
The animation is really awesome, especially with the tank battles. They really nailed the 3DCG tank battles without making it look so jarring and out of place. It's done by studio Actas which honestly, I never really heard of this studio before. But they really did a great job on this anime.
What makes this show interesting is the tank battles, Ooarai team usually have some unfair situations on the match but they managed to overcome the trial by using interesting and unorthodox strategy and tactics. Miho is the leader and the brain of the team. And she really is a good leader for the team.
Speaking about character, the main group's characters are well developed until the end of the series. It's really great to see the characters grow in this anime
The soundtrack is lighthearted war march and honestly it suits the tone of the series as well. One of the problem that I read that the Russian war march song "Katyushka" was replaced with "Tetris" theme song in the DVD release (which is the version that I watch) for copyright reason. ^_^;
While the opening and the ending is not really my cup of tea, I prefer to skip it right away to watch the next episode haha
The problem that I had with this series
This series is very entertaining, but it has some minor issues like :
The rules of the tournament is not really explained to the audience: I've participated on some tournaments before, and the tournaments usually have some certain rules that is made in order to make the match is "fair/balanced". In this series, Ooarai's team always at disadvantage. But apparently it is okay for them to fight the other team with that handicap. Sometimes Yukari shows up with a rule book and she told us "oh based on the rule, it's okay for them to use that thing that will put us in a major disadvantage". I wish this show explain the rule to us even more.
Some unnecessary drama. Yup, The drama is not really relevant on this series. Since everything is resolved by winning the tournament. Most of the drama are sidelined throughout the series. And personally, the drama kinda ruined the happy and lighthearted feeling of the show.
There are a lot of characters that didn't get some spotlight. Well, in fact. There ARE a lot of characters in this series. I think that's almost every problem with anime that has a lot of characters in it hahaha
So here comes the final verdict. Should you watch Girls und Panzer? Yes! yes you should! It's an unique twist of moe slice of life with tank battles. And the tank battles are genuinely entertaining. The battle is tense and engaging and the battle is won through some interesting strategy and not relying too much on sheer dumb luck. Both of the team have their own unique strategies. Just like real life tournament, both of the team is waiting for the opposing team to screw up, so they can exploit that mistake in order to win the battle.
That's it from me guys, I hope that you will find this review helpful for you. This is Reikichi, signing out! XD
I honestly never watched Garo before. Heck, I'm not even familiar with it at all! But I only know "Yeah dude, this is an Adult tokusatsu series, by adult I mean, there's a lot of cleavages!" when it comes to Garo. So, when it showed up on Fall 2014, I didn't really check it out. Until my friend told me "dude you have to watch it!". So I've watched it, It is a 24 episodes series long with normal air time done by Studio MAPPA. How was it? Let's just jump into the review!
Story
The story took place in a medieval ages, In Valiente Kingdom, Some kind of Spanish inquisition. where witch hunt is a thing on that era. Witches are perceived to be a bad thing. But in actuality, they are not bad! Witches are keeping the order and peace in secret. In this world, there are monsters called "Horrors". And the witches which are Alchemist and Makai Knights are the one who destroys them. The king's right hand, Mendoza, convinces the king to urge the witch hunt and kill all of them by burning them alive. One day, there's a pregnant witch that is being burned alive, and then suddenly a Makai Knight named German, saved the child from that burning pregnant witch. And then 17 years has passed, the saved child is named Leon. He is under German's supervision and training to become the proper Makai Knight. And both of them hunt the Horrors together and looking for the source where those horrors come from. Will they succeed?
My thoughts on the series
When I watched the first episode of this series, I'm hooked instantly! It feels like the first chapters of Berserk Manga. But less serious than Berserk. This series is quite dark and I must say the theme is very mature. Now I understand why this is a series for mature audiences when it comes to Tokusatsu series haha
This series has unique and interesting characters. I care for all the characters in this series, (well except the main villain, because I hate him!). And from the first episode alone, German is insta-best character for me! He is a badass character but laid back at the same time. He feels like Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop but the main difference is that he is a womanizer.
Speaking of characters, I really like the character arc for Leon. I hardly can like him as a character at first episodes because he is like this angry teenager at all time. But in the end, he makes a good differences and have a great character development.
This series' is almost episodic at first. But later on, it continues on as a series. Which is great for world building and giving us the exposition that we need to understand how their world looks like and how their world works.
The animation is done by Studio MAPPA. And my god they did deliver! the animation looks solid and cool! Especially eps 18. I won't spoil it for you, but the fighting animation is so good! SAO's fighting animation can go to hell and cry watching this super good animation! When they "henshin" wearing Makai Armor, the animation became 3D CG, it could be jarring for some people. But for me, it looks good for this anime! Mostly people will complain about 3DCG because it feels out of place in anime. But it works in this anime since Makai Knights and Horror are "out of this" world.
The soundtrack is awesome! There are a lot of outstanding tracks for this anime. Especially when they fight as Makai Knights. Every Makai Knights have their own theme song, and when the music cues in, it is sure impactful! My favorite track would be Rafael's theme. The song has choir and my god it is beyond epic! Just listen to this track!
The Opening is done by JAM Project. There are two songs and I think both of them nailed the feel of the series. And for me this two Openings are the one that I won't skip when the episode plays. Because JAM Project always deliver great and epic songs! As for the ending song, they also are good!
Actually I don't really have problems with this anime at all except for the plot which is somehow predictable for me but still doesn't ruin the experience and my enjoyment for this series. But I think people would be have some problem with the 3D CG Makai Armor. Because that's what people in anime community mostly complain in anime hahahaha!
So final thoughts? Should you watch Garo : Honoo no Kokuin? A solid yes for me if you enjoyed dark fantasy. It's a brilliantly written and crafted animated series that you should be watching right now! It has great animation, great story, great characters, and amazing soundtracks! XD
That's it from me guys, I hope that you will find this review useful for you. This is Reikichi, signing out!
Hey guys! This time I'm going to talk about an anime which airs on Winter 2016, Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! or KonoSuba for short. I watched this anime after I finished with Re:Zero (which I already wrote here). I heard that this anime is a parody of Isekai genre itself. So I think watching this series is perfect for me who feels "meh" after watching Re; Zero. So how was it? Let's just dive into it!
Story
The story starts on our real world, where we meet our main protagonist, Satou Kazuma, He is a hikkikomori. But on that day, he went outside to buy some game. On the way home, he saw a girl and a vehicle is rushing to her. Seeing that, Kazuma tried to save her. And then he woke up in the "after life". Enter Aqua, the goddess who told Kazuma that he is already dead. Kazuma thought that he died heroically. But apparently he didn't. He died horribly and pathetically. Aqua laughs when telling him that, even the doctor who tried to save him laughed at his corpse (seriously tho ^__^;). So Aqua offers Kazuma two options. Sending him off to the heaven, or reincarnate once again in a different world while keeping his current memories on his life. She gave a little heads up that if he chose heaven, it'll be boring because everyone in the heaven doesn't have any physical body and just wandering around the heaven for eternity. Listening to that, Kazuma chose to be reincarnated in the other world instead. And then Aqua told him that if he manages to kill the Devil King in this other world, he will be granted one wish. Anything will do. So before he goes to the other world, he must chose anything that he must bring something to that other world in order to defeat that devil king (it could be weapons or anything). Since Aqua is being a jerk to Kazuma by laughing to his death and so on, Kazuma chose to bring her to the other world. So Aqua must live together with Kazuma in that other world. And of course that pissed Aqua off. And thus began their life at the other world living their lives in order to defeat the devil king. Will Kazuma and Aqua be able to defeat the Devil King and get out from that other world?
My thoughts on the series
We all know that anime with isekai genre is quite popular these days, and this anime is a perfect parody of that genre. This anime is genuinely funny and enjoyable for those who are really familiar with that kind of genre.
Even though it's a parody, their world building on the first episode caught me off guard. They really nailed it on the world building, And yet again, this anime only have 10 episodes. Unlike the other isekai anime that I just review couple of weeks ago. *cough* Re:Zero *Cough*. The mechanics of this other world is just like mostly MMORPG where there's some stats. And I can see some "Monster Hunter" like system. Where there's a guild, and they posted some quests for the adventurer's to take. And then they report back and get some rewards. But it's different from MH of course since it tackles the "Exp" system and it has various jobs like any other MMORPG would have.
What makes this show entertaining are the casts. Aqua is a stupid goddess. She is a arch-priest who has good healing abilities, but as she levels up, she spent her skill points for cheap party tricks. While Kazuma, he learns a lot of type of skills from thievery and dark magics. At first, he used thief skill and accidentally become panty thief. Everything gets even more interesting when Kazuma and Aqua finally starts recruiting other members to the party for some quests, But all of the party member (just like Kazuma and Aqua), are good for nothing characters (for comedic purposes). Like Megumin, a crimson demon who can only use one type of spell, Explosion. But after she used it, she will be out cold since it took all of her magic power. She only master that kind of magic because she believes that kind of magic that is important other than other skills and she refuses to learn other magic skills without thinking about her survival after she casts that magic. And the other party member is Darkness, a crusader, but she constantly misses when she attacks, but she loves to take damage from enemy and enjoys being a tank in the team since she is a masochist (^_^;)
Continuing from last point, every flaw of all of the party members are exploited brilliantly for comedic purposes. This is a stupid show with stupid characters and they are self aware of it. It's not trying to be so serious about it which is good for this kind of parody. Every ordeal that they overcome are because of sheer dumb luck, since that's what Kazuma is good at. His luck is the best stats among other party member.
However, among other characters, Darkness' character trope is gets old quite fast. And she didn't really have some meaningful act on this series (in the anime, so far).
The voice actor are great, they really deliver the emotion and the comedic value of the series.
Minor Problems that I had with this series
The animation is done by studio DEEN, and they have this kind of reputation of "standard" and "quarity" anime studio. The quality is are good at the first 7 episodes even though there are a lot of repeated animation scenes. but episode 8 is the worst looking episode among them all. But I must say, whenever Megumin cast the spell, the animation looks pretty. I think this series' budget went there ^_^;
Speaking of animation, the fanservice animation on this anime is quite distracting. Every time a boobie woman moves, it has some intense boobie shake. For me, it's an unnecessary fanservice animation. It feels like the animator was like "What kind of animation to make it more interesting? I know! JIGGLE DEM BOOBIES EVERYTIME A BOOBIE CHARACTER MOVES!" ^_^;
The pacing are actually good until we reach eps 8. Where there are some context that we don't get to see and the anime decided to tell us on a quick flash back and skipped it. IF they manage to tell us the story, this anime could have been 12-13 eps long rather than 10 eps
So here comes the final verdict, should you watch KonoSuba? If you are a fan of isekai genre or at least familiar with it and need some good laughs, you should check it out. They announced the 2nd season of this anime. But it worries me if they will be as good as the first season if they don't add some characters or new party members to the plate.
So that's it from me, I hope that you'll find this review helpful, this is Reikichi, signing out! XD
"I love superheroes! I love anime! Is there any anime about Superheroes?" Well, you are in a perfect place. After One Punch Man hype in 2015, and here we are now at 2016! Another Anime with Superhero theme! This time I'll be talking about Boku no Hero Academia season 1 which has 13 eps and normal episodes run time. So without further ado, let's just dive into it!
Story
The story sets in our world where people somehow developed superpowers, or in their term, it's called "Quirks". 80% of the population of the world have quirks. Our main protagonist, Midoriya Izuku or Deku as his friends called him
Midoriya Izuku/Deku
He aspires to be a Hero, and he idolized the no. 1 Hero of all time, named All Might.
All Might, the no 1 Hero!
But all of that hopes and dreams get crushed when he found out at the age of 4. He is fallen into the minority. He didn't have any Quirks (aka a normal human being) 10 Years have passed, In his Junior High school, Deku got bullied a lot by his childhood friend, Bakugo Katsuki,
Bakugou Katsuki
Deku is usually get bullied by his schoolmates because his friends thought that he is just a "normal people", "A person without quirks is an useless person!" as they say it. (Generalizing and Stereotypical person, never liked them lol). But even though Deku acknowledged himself as a normal person, he never surrender and always try his best to become a hero. Because he believe that a normal person can be a hero! A great hero just like All Might!
On his way home, Deku suddenly got attacked by Villain (which means a Villain, duh) and he is saved by his idol, All Might, Later on he knows that All Might is actually have a really bad condition. He is injured from his previous intense battles but despite of his condition, he tries so hard to keep his hero's duty because he is the symbol of peace and he doesn't want every body know about his weakness right now. And then the villain that captured Deku before, managed to captured Bakugo. All of the superheroes available assemble to fight this villain, but none can fight him and saved Bakugo. Despite of his "normality", Deku rushes to the villain and tries to save Bakugo, because that's his instinct. And then All Might do the finishing blow and saved the day. Witnessing Deku's bravery, All Might saw a great potential on Deku. And he told Deku that "Even normal person can be a hero too!". All Might decided to train Deku in order to pass on his powers to Deku. Because he needs a successor.
In order to be a professional Hero, Deku must enter the UA, the Hero Academy. Deku won't be able to receive All Might's power with his current physical condition. So All Might train him for 10 months so Deku would be "strong" enough to receive his powers. Will Deku be able to enter the Hero Academy? Can he be a Hero?
My Thoughts on the series
The setting and the plot is actually not new (Superheroes, an academy of superheroes) and very predictable, but damn, I'm enjoying myself when I watch this. Just like any other superheroes, what makes this series entertaining is the characters. Deku is a crybaby but he has the desire to be a hero and he acts heroic. After receiving the power from All Might, I thought he would be instantly as strong as All Might, He does, but he can't control it, yet. Because right after he did his quirk, he is incapacitated. For example, he punch a person, but his bones are broken. So every action that he did would be a high risk for him. That's where he shines as a character, he did some strategic analysis and work things out with his wits. As a shonen main character, it is definitely entertaining to see him grow..
Again with the characters, I like Bakugo's character arc. He has this inferiority complex. In Junior High school, he used to be the no 1 person and no one can beat him, but later on he realized how small and inferior he is compared to the world. I think he is quite possible become either the main villain (since it's kinda foreshadowing the battle between Deku and him). or become the powerful rival/friend. Just like Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z.
The animation is done by Studio Bones! And my god they did deliver! You can't never be dissapointed with Bones' animation when it comes to "Action" sequences. All Might's Plus Ultra is one of my favorite moments in 2016 (so far as this blog published). And it's announced that this show will have season 2! I hope Bones will handle the 2nd season as well! XD
Opening is done by Porno Graffitti. The last time I hear them is on Fullmetal Alchemist (2004). which is a long time ago hahahaha! But damn, their song is good! The ending is also good, it's done by Brian the Sun! Their song really captures the emotion of the series,
The BGM soundtrack is so good and Heroic! I mean, just listen to this track! So epic!
The problems that I had with this series
There are so many characters in here, And most of them didn't have the time to shine. I'd love to see and know more about them. Because this series mainly focuses on Deku and All Might's relationship. I hope that we will see more of the other side characters and anything that similar to Bakugo's character arc in the future seasons to come
And now for the final conclusion, should you watch Boku no Hero Academia season 1? If you love Superhero, you'll love this anime and I definitely recommend this one for you. This show is worth your time! But mind you, this is just a prologue and a slow burner. And I think it nails as a setup season for many awesome things that will happen in the future (hopefully), It's been awhile for me to be excited watching a shonen series like this. I can't wait to watch Season 2!
That's it from me guys, I hope that you'll find this review useful! This is Reikichi, signing out!
DISCLAIMER: These are my thoughts on the anime adaptation, not the light/web novel series, so keep that in mind when you read this. Are we clear on this? Let's jam!
Welcome back to the "After Thoughts" segment of this blog! If you don't know, "After Thoughts" is a segment where I talk about my thoughts on the anime and it contains spoiler. This is a review (kinda), but more unstructured compared to my usual reviews. If I go spoiler review, I'd talk about the details on the things that I review just like my review on BvS. This time, I'm going to talk about the anime that people won't shut up about it on the internet on 2016, Re:Zero kara isekai seikatsu or Re: Zero for short. It's a 25 eps anime, while the first episode was 50 mins long, and the other one is normal episode length.
This is probably the second anime that I talked on my blog that contains "Re: " as a title. Which is Re Life. We had a lot of anime that started with "Re" on this year to be honest lol.
So, this anime is about a guy named Natsuki Subaru that suddenly out of nowhere thrown into the fantasy world. And for some reason, he have some special gimmick when he transported into that other world. Every time he dies, he respawned at a certain moment, and everything will reset from the start. It's kinda like playing a game. When you reach a checkpoint and you died before reaching the goal or the next check point, you'll start from the checkpoint. The thing is, Subaru can't tell anybody in the world that he has that kind of gimmick. Why? I dunno, Some kind of magical power grabbed his heart whenever he tried to say that. (no, seriously tho)
The concept alone is not really new, since there are a lot of anime these days that used "Trapped in the other world" as the setting, Probably because most of the otaku author didn't really know how real world works, so they make their own world for their story. But personally, I also enjoyed some of those setting. And the time loop concept is already used for other series as well like, All you need is kill (or the Hollywood movie version, The Edge of Tomorrow), Steins;Gate (which is handled by the same studio that made this anime, White Fox). or Madoka Magica. I can't help but to compare Re: Zero to those 3 series (which is you should check it out if you haven't read/watch it).
Okay, here's my thoughts on the series. Watching this anime feels like watching a Let's play series on Youtube and the"Let's players" (LP) is playing a Visual Novel. And he played it pretty badly which makes him end up on "Bad end" situation. Or LP who played Dark Souls, and the LP didn't learn anything from his previous encounters. So he died a lot and he didn't progress that much. Subaru made a lot of bad decisions that led him to a very bad situations and even worse, leading to his own death. And most of the time, he didn't really learn from his experience that he gained before.
The first 11 episodes stories are entertaining to be honest, establishing how Subaru's gimmick works on that world, World building (by world building, I mean, the general idea, it doesn't go into details, they are just too vague about it). Side characters back story, especially Rem (which is my favorite character in this series). But the first episode, as I mentioned earlier, took like 50 mins, And that is the amount of time that Subaru learns about his gimmick. Maybe Subaru is just a little bit too slow on understanding what is actually happening to him when he died. But strangely enough that he grasped the idea of "Oh, I'm in another world now"- so quickly.
After the first 11 episodes,
it goes downhill from there (until episode 18),
from episode 12-18, I really hate Subaru as a character. He is very obnoxious (He is an obnoxious person from the start, but at this point, he just become more obnoxious). He doesn't really listen to other people, a self-centered person, and he feels that he is so important because he thinks that he is the hero that other world deserves but not the one it needs right now (*the dark knight intensifies*). On episode 12, he really doesn't know his place. He self-proclaimed himself as a knight of representatives for Emilia (which is his main love interest in the series) in front of the Saint knights of the kingdom. Julius, one of the Saint Knights, questions Subaru's knighthood. To that, Subaru's responded with "What's so good about knight anyway?". Julius got triggered, and later on, he challenges Subaru for a "sparring session" . And Julius whap the shit out of Subaru. Normally, if the main character got tortured, we will feel empathy towards him/her. But this time is different. When I watch it, I feel like
"YES! HE DESERVES THAT!"
And there's eps 15, or I must say "the lowest point of Subaru", where he witnessed his friends died and he died horribly on the previous episode. He just lost his mind at that time, And because of that, Rem decided to brought him back to the Emilia's mansion. On their way there, they are ambushed by the witch cultist. Subaru was captured, and Rem tries to save him. And then he witness Rem got tortured and she had some "twisted" experience and she died horribly (and became a meme)
just to clear things up, the twister is not actually showed up on the actual episode
Subaru snapped when he saw Rem. He manages to escape from the witch cultist and went to the mansion, carrying Rem's dead body and suddenly there's a blizzard. He witnessed that everyone has fallen as a witch cultist victim. And then he saw a large monster, and it killed him.
That particular episode was too depressing seriously. But somehow that is one of my favorite moments in the anime. I just love to see Subaru suffer. XP
And finally, episode 18, where Subaru shares his sorrow, he admits that he is not a good person and made a lot of bad decisions. He tried to be important and he admits that he is not. and then Rem confess to him. "Don't worry Subaru, if that's how you see yourself like that, I see you in a different way, I see good things from you, because I love you/" But Subaru be like "Rem, plz, I love Emilia". and that phrase, (you guessed it) it became a meme.
probably the best thing I've found on google search hahahaha
And they love Emilia before it was cool! They love Emilia since 2012! Own it, Subaru!
And after he rejects Rem, He asked Rem for help to help him helping Emilia. (my god). After all that Rem has done to him, Really Subaru? what an asshat.
But his personality gets "better" after eps 18. He finally starts to listen to other people, he learns a bit from his past death experience. And even he apologize to Julius befriended him. But yeah, took him long enough.
This series has its good points, well the story made me care about the side characters like Rem and Wilhelm (Not to be mistaken as Wilhelm Scream). Wilhelm's backstory is really touching, his quest for revenge to his deceased wife to the White Whale was awesome. I find it kinda similar to the legendary Moby Dick story. While Rem's history is based on a Japanese "Red and blue demon" with a twist. Things that I enjoy the most is seeing Subaru changes from an optimistic self-proclaimed hero at the beginning into a mentally broken protagonist. Seriously tho, with his attitude, he deserves to suffer! X'D
The animation quality is consistent throughout the series. The voice acting are fantastic. The soundtrack is fitting with the situation. Especially that one soundtrack that always played when Subaru screw things up.
This particular soundtrack is too creepy. But it fits the tone seriously hahaha
As for the OP and the ED. Well, It's not my kind of music. It's good for some people, I guess. The character designs are cute, especially Mimi. Her character design is just too adorable!
I can haz cheezburgerz! NOM!
But despite of those good points, this show has some major issues as well. for example:
It really bugs me that how well Subaru adapted himself to the other world that he just suddenly got into. It feels so "inhuman". I think normal person would react "Oh what is this place!?" or at least shocked in the first place. While Subaru be like "oh yeah, this must be a fantasy world! I must have magic or some shit" and he feels that "It's my destiny to be the hero of this world now!" without questioning "why am I here? how could this happen to me? why me?" Which makes it hard (for me, at least) to relate to him as a main character. .
There are a lot of major plot hole that is left unexplained, why do people fear and hate the jealous witch so much? Why there's a cultist who worships her? Why Subaru can't tell his gimmick to other person? Why does Subaru have that kind of gimmick? At the finale, what did Subaru write on the gospel's book? Was it beetlegeuse's name? After he did that, beetelguese suddenly dies, so does it work just like Death Note? Because I think Beetleguese's death is kind of an asspull.
if anyone can read that, please tell me what he wrote there.
As I watch this series until the end, a lot of questions appeared. And sadly, it didn't have some explanations to it.
I really don't know how this series will wrap up. Usually if a series goes like this, I'd be very happy theorizing and guessing how will this series end. But really, I don't know how this will all end. I mean, what's the end goal to this story? What's the point of this series? What's the point of Subaru's suffering? If I have to compare it with "All you need is kill" the main character looped in order to beat the aliens. Or like Okarin from Steins;Gate, where he must do the time loop in order to undo everything that he has done by time travelling to save his childhood friend. While Re: Zero? I don't really see the end goal. To save Emilia? To make Emilia the ruler of the land? To make Subaru get into Emilia's pants? ^_^;
They don't really spend a lot of time in the world building. I'd love to know the detail about the world that they live in, especially in a fantasy world setting. The political situation, what kind of creature or species are they? Why do they have special abilities? Where do they come from? What do they eat besides Ringa and hambagah? What kind of sorcery/technology that they used when they fight the White Whale? I mean it has beams and shit. They have 25 episodes, and they can manage to fit in 1 episode just for Subaru rambling about himself, why don't they spend 1 episode on world building? I do hope the original source build the world better
It's not clear how the checkpoint works. I mean, the checkpoint is always realized when Subaru is dead. and he always respawned perfectly on a certain "story arc" before he start screwing things up. I think that is too convenient. It feels that Subaru is a walking Deus ex Machina (plot device). He is there because the plot said it and need him to be there in order to "progress" the plot. There's no explanation why does the checkpoint started on that exact moment or what kind of condition that Subaru have to achieve first in order to reach the checkpoint? Is it boss battle? Or kill someone? Well if you played Crash Bandicoot, we know that we have to destroy the box with "C" marking on it. Or In Dark Souls, you have to light up the Bonfire. You get the idea.
Continuing from last point, Subaru feels like a walking deus ex machina, because whenever the plot need him, he just do it to continue the story. When the plot must progress, suddenly he became the smartest person ever. But like I said before and I feel like I'm repeating myself again, most of the time he is just too stupid and made a lot of bad and stupid decisions which led him to his misery and suffering. When he suddenly became clever, it feels out of his character, really.
Subaru's love for Emilia is kinda weird and feels like a forced love story. It looks like he is just a horny teenager who wants to get the first girl that he saw. I mean, Emilia literally did nothing to him and he just met her. You can argue "But she saved Subaru at the first episode and she is nice to him! And don't forget that lap pillow that Emilia always give to him!", But that's just it, right? Just 1 saving moment, and she's generally being nice to everyone. Lap pillow? Well, that's really helpful when witch cultist suddenly attack them. If those are the reason why he is head over heels about her, that is way too cheesy! It sounds like Disney's Frozen when Anna and Hans met for the first time and suddenly they decided to get married. Yeah, seems like a believable love story to me. (-_____-); This entire show is all about Subaru saving Emilia. But his motivation to fall in love that deeply and trying that hard to save Emilia is just too weak. If Emilia did anything just like Rem did, I think that is enough reason for Subaru. Because she is the girl who is worth dying for. Without that, Subaru choosing Emilia over Rem sounds idiotic. Because Rem is the best girl, and she deserves to be loved like that. Which leads me to the next point.
"Rem is best girl", well yes, that is true. But why did I put her in the "issues" section? Just because she is the most fleshed out character among other characters. Other characters are actually interesting and have their unique traits and personality, but we saw a lot of Rem instead of other characters. So yeah, Rem is obviously the best girl just because the show gives her a lot of spotlight instead of other characters.
The ending is "go read the LN" ending. But all the material (up to the release of the finale of this anime) is all used up based on this article. It definitely needs another season, but knowing that the material is not yet finished and already used up, it won't come any sooner. Please anime industry, adapt some material that is already finished. T_T
So here comes the final verdict, should you watch Re: Zero? Maybe. myeh.... I guess,
Don't get me wrong, it's still a good show, barely. It's not-"Oh, dude! You should totally check this out!"-kind of good. Mediocre at best. Slightly above average. Barely passed my passing grade. But for me, it doesn't live up to the hype on the anime community and it's not a masterpiece at all since it has a lot of issues in it. If you enjoyed it, well good for you! But personally, I'd better rewatch The Edge of Tomorrow, because that movie is awesome!
okay those are my after thoughts on Re: Zero. I hope you enjoyed this segment. This is Reikichi, signing out!
